Automatic sugar-cane-feeder regulator.



e; A. BRONDER. AUTOMATIC SUGAR CANE FEEDER REGULATOR. APPLICAI'ION FILEDIAN. 1'5. 191?.

1,259,828. v Patented Mai-19,1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET L A, W 419: I

G. A. BRON-DER.

AUTOMATIC SUGAR CANE FEEDER, REGULATOR.

APPucA'non man MN. 15. 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- Patented Mar. 19, 1918.

. tion of any'motor that may be employe for UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GASTON A. BRQNDER, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

AUTOMATIC .SUGAR-CANE-FEEDEB REGULATOR.

To all whom it may concern:

a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at- 1874 East 12 streetBrooklyn, in the county of Kings and state of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Sugar-Cane- FeederRegulators, fully described and represented in the followingspecificatlon and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

This invention provides a means of securing a regulated supply ofsugar-cane or similar material to devices adapted to operate upon suchmaterial; and 1s especlally suited for feeding sugar-cane tocrushingrolls, so that the rolls may be Sub ected constantly to the samestrain, and the uice may be extracted from the cane more unlformly.

It has long been common to employ a traveling platform or slattedconveyer to feed the cane to the crushing-rolls; but in practice, thecane is dumped from field-cars-= directly upon the conveyer and in consequence a very uneven layer of the cane 1s produced, some parts of thelayer be ng very thin and others very thick, the thlckness varying inpractice from six inches to three feet.

The attempts heretofore made have not succeeded in automaticallydeliverin the cane to the crushing-rolls in a layer 0 even thiclmes s.

The present invention accomplishes the object by providing a pair ofgage-wheels to bear separately upon the same line across the layer ofcane, and at a considerable distance apart, the wheels being mounted toindependently rise and fall, and the mean of their inde endent movementsbeing imparted to sultable means for varying the speed of the conveyerinversely to the mean thickness of the layer.

The invention is applicable to the re lapropellingthe conveyer, and thenature of such means and the mode in which it is operated by thegage-wheels ,will be fully understood by reference to the annexeddrawing, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a conveyer with anengine for driving the same and a governor connected with thegage-wheels and controlled by their oscillations.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 19,1918.

, Application filed January 15, 1917. Serial 1%. 142,393.

Fig. 2 is a plan of the same; Fig. 3 an end view of the guide-box forthe shaft of the gage-wheels; Fig. 4 a side view of the guide-box withthe shaft and portion of one of the gage-wheels; Fig. 5 is alongitudinal section upon the middle line of F1 2; Fig. 6 is a. crosssection where hatche on line 6-6, in Fig. 1; and Fig. 7 is a verticalsection of a centrifugal governor adapts ed to cooperate with thegage-wheels. Fig. 8 shows the sleeve-connections enlarged.

a designates the slats of a conveyer carried by chains b which extendover sprocketwheels I).

The shaft 0 of these wheels is mounted upon a frame at with asteam-engine e, and the crank-shaft of the engine is connecte to theshaft 0 by cog-wheels 0'.

The conveyer carries the cane upwardly to a sufiicient height to bedelivered into a trough having a floor f and sides 7', the

floor being inclined downwardly to deliver the cane automatically to thecrushing-rolls.

The conveyer moves between side-walls a which retain the cane g thereon.

As shown in Fig. 5, and by dotted lines in Fig. 1, the cane isdistributed unequally upon the conveyer so that the layer may, inpractice, vary from six inches to thirty-six inches in depth, and auniform layer can only be delivered into the trough f, f, by varying thespeed of the conveyer inversely to the thickness of the la er.

The thicker portions 0 the layer are thus carried slowly over thehighest point of the elevator and delivered gradually into the trough,and the thinner portions of the layer would be delivered from theconveyer more rapidly, and thus compensate for the deficiency ofthickness by the increase in speed of delivery.

The engine 0 is provided with the usual governor h to compensate forvariations in steam-pressure, and would maintain the engineat a uniformspeed, but I provide the governor with a special attachment and con.-nect such attachment to the gage-wheels i, which rest upon the same asit is propelled by the conveyer, and thus vary the governors operation,

The gage-wheels are shown located over the highest point of the conveyerbut may be at any other point, as the variations in the layer arethesame as at such delivery point.

steady and support the axle while Two gage-wheels are em loyed, as-shownin Figs. 2 and 6, and are p aced at opposite ends of a shaft or axle j,the middle point of which is ivoted in the guide-box k by a bolt is so tat it ma oscillate in a vertical plane, and permit t e wheels to riseand fall independently of one another in accordance with the thicknessof the layer beneath such wheels.

/ The guide-box isconnected to a rockerbar Z by an arm consisting of twoanglebars m, such bars being attached to a plate k upon the guide-box Acrank-arm n is attached to the rockerbar and connected by a rod 0 to aregulatorsleeve 9 upon the top of the governor it, as shown in Fig. 7.

The governor-balls are carried by and rotated around a spindle and aspiral-spring is fitted upon the spindle between the movable collar 8 ofthe governor-balls and a pressing washer t which is actuated b theregulatorsleeve p. The .collar 8 is s ownconnected in the usual manner,by rod u, with a balanced valve a which supplies the engine with steam,and any pressure of the washer it upon the spring 1* produces aresistance to the expansion of the overnorballs, and causes the valve toglve more steam to the engine than it would under the normal operationof the balls, and thus increases the speed of the engine and theconveyer connected therewith.

Such pressure upon the washer is exerted by an upward pull upon therocker-sleeve p, and such pull is produced directly by a lifting of thegage-wheels when any thic er portion of the cane passes beneath them.

Th contrary effect is produced u on the governor when the gage-wheelsare owered by a thinner portion of the cane.

As the cane lies very unevenly upon the conveyer it may be a foot ormore thicker near one wall of the conveyer than the other, and the twowheels are supported at a sufiicient distance apart to be afi'ected bysuch difierences in the la er, so as to impart a vertical movement, to te pivot, which expresses a mean of their movements, and i'ndicatesthemean thickness of the layer.

It is obviou that the same freedom of oscillation can be imparted to thewheel-shaft j if the guide-box were dispensed with, and

the end of the arm m were provided with a pivot equivalent to the boltis.

The only purpose of the guide-box is to ermitting it to oscillate inaccordance with the independent rise and fall of the wheels.

The mean of the wheels movements which corresponds to the mean thiclmessof the layer, is constantly transferred to the rockerbar and from thatbar to the means for varymg the speed of the conveyer.

The gage-wheels are preferably made -of aaeaeas suitable weight so as topress down upon the loose stalk of the cane, and thereby indicate thetrue thickness of the layer.

The wheels in practice are spaced a distance apart equal to one-half t ewidth of the trough so as to gage the thickness of the layer upon thesame transverse line at a secure the uniform delivery of the cane to thetrough which feeds the crushing-rolls, and it is therefore immaterialwhether steam or water-power be used, or an electric motor, as controlsare known for all of these powers and can be so actuated byconnectionwith the gage-Wheels as to vary the movement of the motor and theconveyer in the manner described.

The device which makes the governer subject to regulation by thegage-wheels is not claimed specifically herein, and is made the subjectof a separate application.

Aprons hinged at one end over a conveyer have been used to rest at theother end upon a variable layer of material and age the thickness ofsuch layer; but it is obvious that such an apron extending over theentire breadth of the layer is affected always by the highest part ofthe layer, and does not furnish any independent means of gaging thethickness of the layer at opposite edges of the conveyer, and does notmeasure the mean thickness of the layer or actuate the regulating devicein accordance with such 'mean thickness.

My invention therefore effects results which cannot be secured by anapron or other instrumentality bearing upon the entire width of thelayer.

It will be observed that my feed regulator is not limited in itsoperation to the delive of sugar-cane to crushing-rolls, but isapplicable to feeding any variable layer of stock to the operatingdevice.

Hav ng thu set forth the nature of the lnventlon what is claimed hereinis:

1. In a sugar cane feeder, the combination, w1th a conveyer and a motorfor propelling the conveyer, of a feed gage consisting of a pair ofosclllating s aced gage-wheels above said conveyer and a apted to bearon a layer of material thereon, means for supporting the wheels forindependently rising and fallmg upon the said layer of material, andmeans actuated by the oscillation of the wheel for varying thetspeed ofthe motor inversely to the mean thickness of the la er.

2. In a sugar cane feeder, the combination, wlth a conveyer and meansfor operating the said conveyer, of a shaft sustained transversely overthe conveyer and having gagewheels upon its opposite ends, said shafthaving a transverse pivot-support at the middle movable vertically,whereby the Wheels have independent vertical movement and meansconnected with the said pivotsupport and with the conveyeroperatingmeans for varying the speed of the conveyer inversely to themean thickness of the layer.

3. In a sugar cane feeder, the combinatlon, with a conveyer and meansfor operatingthe said conveyer, of a rocker-bar ournaled transverselyover the conveyer, an arm projected from the rocker-bar with atransverse guide-box upon its end, a shaft pivoted in 5 the ide-box' ndhaving gage-wheels rotatab e upon its opposite ends, and means connectedwith the rocker-bar for varyingthe speed of the \conveyer inversely tothe mean thickness of the layer.

. 20 In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

GASTON A. BRONDER.

